Joe Manchin: “just briefly, I want to correct one thing that was said. Because of the 117th Congress, when we all worked together…”

“just briefly, I want to correct one thing that was said. Because of the 117th Congress, when we all worked together, today we are producing more energy than ever in the history of the United States. We are producing 4.6 billion barrels of oil this year, 37 trillion cubic feet of gas, 13.5 billion cubic feet a day of LNG. In 2016, we didn't do anything. So what we have done with all of the bills--the bipartisan infrastructure bill; the IRA bill, or the Inflation Reduction Act--is forced this administration to start taking seriously U.S. energy independence and security. They cannot just move them in one direction. It is a balanced approach, and it is working. This is the part, now, that we need to shut down. We should not be relying on foreign supply chains, unreliable foreign countries of concern. You have China, you have Russia, you have North Korea, and you have Iran--four of the most notorious. To depend on anything that comes from those four countries that we need for our building blocks is a sin. That is the only thing I am saying on the hold you have here. There are going to be other things that we can work together on to make sure that we all--I think you have them on this. I don't know if that is a No. 1 priority. They just didn't have any objection because they knew it was something that should be done. We are all for it. You are using it because you need something else, and we are committing to help you on something else.…”